Let's poor me a hot one!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014 · Mike Davis

Grab a cup of coffee and pull up a stool! Good morning and happy hump day. Couldn't ask for two more contrasting weeks, last week we pulled out multiple layers to run and this week back in shorts. Far too many clichés could be used but simply put; "if you don't like the weather in New Hampshire, just wait a minute!" Because we pushed our long run this past weekend from Saturday to Sunday, I just completed 3 consecutive days of running. My running schedule is Monday's, Tuesdays, Thursdays and preferably Saturday's. If I miss a day I don't typically adjust the rest of the schedule but instead, I just miss a day of running. Since weekends are designated as long run time, I didn't want to skip it. Thankfully I am somewhat under control in that I didn't follow up Saturday's 7 mile run with difficult runs Monday and Tuesday. Monday I ran for 50 minutes followed by a 40 minute run yesterday. I am grateful for my understanding of training in that more is not better if the goal is to run healthy. All 3 runs have been interesting for me as I seem to be doing something funky with my foot strike of my left foot. Sunday I once again noticed that while I am getting decent knee action, but I am landing on the inside of my forefoot almost rolling it. I have noticed in my previous runs because I could actually feel a blister forming on the outside of my big toe. It almost seemed like the more lift I get, the more my feet over pronate as my foot hits the ground. As Kathy and I walked for our cool down I mentioned this to her and she told me that she had meant to tell me that lately she has noticed my left leg bowing out and when my foot land she noticed my foot rolling in. Well, this new dynamic was not a positive improvement and one that I needed to correct real quick! Ideally I should get some video and figure out where in my gait my leg and foot are moving in this awkward direction. Unfortunately my assistant is away so I am trying instead to correct my form by focusing on my kneecaps and foot landing. Ideally if we had headlights square on our kneecaps, we would see 2 beams of light parallel and straight in the direction we are running. Unfortunately if we did this on some of those we have done gait analysis, we would see one if not both of those headlight beams shooting off to the left or right. So my last 2 runs have been totally focused on knee alignment and foot strike. I believe I had some correction as I felt my landing was more square (neutral) and my knees appeared to be staying in line with the direction I was running. This is certainly an interesting challenge for me as I try to play gait doctor on myself. Being an opportunistic person, I'll take this circumstance as an opportunity to learn something that will help me in working with others. Well my coffee cup is empty and it is time to head off to work. Today looks to be beautiful for running so I will be strength training! LOL, have to stay on schedule! Have a great day! Mike